Uncategorized

neilfoster

LIFE & DEATH: THE TESTIMONY OF LAZARUS

With Easter fast approaching there will be the inevitable news story querying the resurrection of Jesus. Prior to Easter Sunday we’re told that the raising by Jesus of a four-day-dead man Lazarus led to the religious leaders of the day saying ‘Look how the whole world has gone after him (Jesus)!’ – largely on the testimony of Lazarus & those who had been there (John 12:17-19). 

So just how much weight can be placed on the evidentiary material in the New Testament? Join us at our first Newcastle City Legal of the year as Sam Hilton unpacks the meaning of this amazing event. This will be a breakfast seminar, run by the Newcastle Christian Lawyers Fellowship, in partnership with “City Legal”, Wednesday 2 April, 7:30 am- 8:30 am, in room X703, Nuspace Building, University of Newcastle, Cnr Hunter St and Auckland St, Newcastle.

More information here, and registration on that page is open now! Charge is $5 (and free coffee), or $10 for pastries with coffee. Everyone is welcome to come: lawyers, law students, or those just interested in the questions!

neilfoster

Latest Issue of Australian Journal of Law and Religion; my “surrejoinder” on s 109

I’m very pleased to note that the latest online issue of the Australian Journal of Law and Religion (2024, vol 5) has just become available (free to download) here. The issue contains a number of really interesting articles I am looking forward to reading- I will list the Table of Contents below. (Of course it goes without saying that I might not agree with everything said by the other authors, nor they with my views- but that is what a robust academic debate is about!)

But I hope I will be forgiven for highlighting two articles of particular interest to me. One is a book review by Jacob Carson, who is a current undergraduate law student at the University where I have the privilege to work. The other is an article that I have written, which is labelled a “surrejoinder” : “Religious Freedom, the Sex Discrimination Act, and Section 109: A Surrejoinder to Butler“. This somewhat unusual word is used when something is published as part of an ongoing academic debate.

I published an article in volume 1 of the AJLR arguing that, where Commonwealth laws provide a more generous regime for religious bodies accused of sex discrimination, than that provided by States and Territories, that the effect of s 109 of the Constitution is that the Commonwealth law will prevail over the other laws.

 In volume 2 of the journal, Nicholas Butler provided a rejoinder to my article, arguing that I was wrong to suggest that the effect of s 109 of the Constitution would be that such State laws would be inoperative. In this volume I continue the debate with my “surrejoinder”, and maintain that my earlier arguments were correct. This issue continues to be significant, as increasingly laws enacted by States and Territories make it harder for faith-based organisations and educational institutions to operate in accordance with their faith commitments. In those circumstances, while the Commonwealth laws provide a reasonable balance between rights of religious freedom and rights not to be discriminated against, such bodies should, I argue, be able to rely on the protections provided by Commonwealth law.

I commend the debate to those interested. The other articles in this volume are noted below; it is good to see in particular articles published as part of a co-operative venture with a key US website which comments on religious freedom issues, “Canopy Forum”. All of the articles are available here, either as a single download of the whole issue or separately.

Alex Deagon and Jeremy Patrick, Editorial (pp. i-ii)

Articles

Brady Earley, Religious Exemptions in Ancient China (pp. 1-13)

Rosemary Teele Langford and Malcolm Anderson, Religious Charities in Australia: Implications for Governance Under Traditional Values and Outlooks (pp. 24-39) 

Joseph Lee, Religious Institutions and Personal Injury Compensation Claims for Abuse: The Noteworthy Significance of Insurance (pp. 40-61) 

Interviews

Hon. Michael Kirby, AC CMG, An Interview on Faith and Sexuality with Michael Kirby (pp. 62-70) 

Book Reviews

Michael F Bird, Religious Freedom in a Secular Age: A Christian Case for Liberty, Equality, and Secular Government (Review by Jacob Carson) (pp. 71-73) 

John Witte, Jr. and Rafael Domingo (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law(Review by Alex Deagon) (pp. 74-75) 

Robert F. Cochran Jr., The Servant Lawyer: Facing the Challenges of Everyday Faith in Christian Law Practice (Review by Benjamin B Saunders) (pp. 76-78) 

Special Topic Forum: The Rise of the Nones (co-published with Canopy Forum)

Rhys Gower and Adam Possamai, The 2021 Australian “Mark ‘No Religion’” Campaign (pp. 79-82) 

Anna Halafoff, Andrew Singleton, and Elenie Poulos, Querying “No Religion”: State, Society, and Spirituality in Australia (pp. 83-88) 

Jeremy Patrick, A Brief Rejoinder to Movsesian on ‘The New Thoreaus’ (pp. 89-91)

Jesse M. Smith and Ryan T. Cragun, The Push Away from Religion and the Pull Toward Secularity: The Rise of the Nones in the United States (pp. 92-96)

neilfoster

Law and Religion essay competition

The University of Southern Queensland has established an essay competition in law and religion open to students in any Australian law program (see here for more details).  There are cash prizes and the winner’s essay will be published in the Australian Journal of Law and Religion. This is a great opportunity and I encourage anyone who is studying law, and interested in this area, to have a go! (Deadline is 1 June 2025.) Do pass this on if you know law students who might be interested. 

neilfoster

FREEDOM24 conference August 5

Freedom for Faith is hosting the FREEDOM24 Conference 9am-4pm on Monday August 5th at Village Church Annandale in Sydney. I highly recommend this conference!

Livestream tickets are free, to maximise access for those who cannot attend in person.

FREEDOM24 conference will develop your understanding of threats to religious freedom in Australia from historical, theological and policy perspectives.

Historian Sarah Irving-Stonebraker will examine the history of religious freedom, while John McClean of Christ College will share a theological perspective on how the church is to respond to legal threats to ministry. We will also have a number of experts unpack the major religious freedom concerns in Australia, as well as implications and paths forward for advocacy.

Issues examined will include:

  • Federal Religious Discrimination Bill
  • Faith-based schools and the Sex Discrimination Act
  • NSW Conversion Practices Act
  • NSW “Equality” Bill
  • Queensland Anti-Discrimination and “Respect at Work” Bill

Get tickets at fff.org.au/f24.

neilfoster

Australian Journal of Law and Religion vol 4- Theology and Jurisprudence

It is good to see the online publication of Volume 4 of the Australian Journal of Law and Religion. This is a special issue on “Theology and Jurisprudence”.  The table of contents:

Volume 4, 2024  

The Catholic Modernity of Pope Benedict XVI: Healthy Secularity and Christian Jurisprudence Zachary R. Calo 1 

Natural Law with and without God Jonathan Crowe 17 

Christian Natural Law and a Foundation for Religious Freedom: Love, the True, and the Good Alex Deagon 34 

The Secularisation of Conscience: A Natural Law Critique  Constance Youngwon Lee 57 

Kierkegaard’s Works of Love: From Benedict’s Rule to More’s Utopia  Joshua Neoh 75 

Corporations, Compelled Speech, and the Common Good  Lukas Opacic 84 

Christianity and Law in the Enlightenment  John Witte Jr. with Harold J. Berman 101 

All articles can be downloaded for free from: https://ausjlr.com/issue-archive/  

neilfoster

Academic conference on Theology and Jurisprudence, 2024- call for papers

On behalf of the organisers, I am happy to post (for academic, and academically inclined, readers!) a call for papers for a symposium to be held in Toowoomba, Queensland, in February 2024.

Continue reading

neilfoster

How I wish that God would speak!

The Newcastle Lawyers’ Christian fellowship is running another of our breakfast meetings for lawyers (and other interested folk!) in Newcastle, on Wednesday 14 June 2023, from 7:30-8:30 am.  Our venue will once again be the Moot Court with-the-best-views-of-a-harbour (aka Room X-703) in the NuSpace Building, the University of Newcastle (corner of Hunter St and Auckland St). We are glad to welcome David Robertson back to speak about what the ancient Hebrew Book of Job can tell us about wanting God to speak in the midst of suffering.

No matter what our occupation or where we’re from, we’re all familiar with suffering. The enigmatic 3,000 year old man Job & his story of suffering must rank as one of the most gut-wrenching, eye-watering tales in the great catalogue of human misery down the centuries. Join Newcastle City Legal presenter David Robertson as he brings this ancient story to life – and shows us the surprising comfort it offers.

More information is available here, where you can also register. Cost is $5 (which includes a coffee) or $10 for pastries for breakfast.

I should also mention that I will be speaking at the upcoming City Legal National Conference in Canberra on 24-25 August, on ‘The Ethics of Freedom: Religious Freedom in the Workplace’. This Seminar is one of the 2 CPD points on offer at the Conference in the areas of Ethics & Professional Responsibility along with Practice Management & Business Skills. See Conference Brochure here. There will also be great speakers like Max Jeganathan, John Bales, Dan Anderson & Wilbur Longbottom. More details and Conference Rego are available here.

neilfoster

Law & Religion Junior Faculty Conference- UND, Chicago, Oct 2023

Academics who are working in the Law & Religion area may be interested in this upcoming conference at the University of Notre Dame in Chicago, especially those who are in the first decade of their academic career. I am informed that offers of papers will be considered even from those based outside the US. Here are the details:

Notre Dame Law School in Chicago
Notre Dame Law School in Chicago

The University of Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative invites junior faculty to submit abstracts of works in progress to be considered for presentation at a Law & Religion Junior Faculty Conferenceto be held at Notre Dame Law School’s Chicago Campus October 27-28, 2023.

We are looking for submissions of proposed articles that will make significant contributions in the field of law and religion. If your paper is selected, you will receive a $1,500 honorarium + travel costs, and dedicated commentary on your paper from a distinguished scholar in this field. You also commit that you will have a working draft circulated at least one month before the Conference. For more information and to submit a 500-word abstract of your proposed article by April 28th, 2023, visit our website. If you already have a working draft of your article, you may also submit that with your abstract for consideration during the selection process. 

Qualifications: Submissions are limited to unpublished papers by junior faculty, meaning tenure-track law faculty who have been teaching for no more than 10 years. Aspiring scholars who have not yet obtained their first tenure-track appointments, including teaching or other fellows and visiting assistant professors, are also welcome to submit papers for consideration.

  • Submissions may not have been accepted for publication by a journal, and the article must remain substantively revisable (for purposes of incorporating changes resulting from conference feedback).
  • There is a limit of one submission per person.
  • Co-authored pieces will be accepted only if both authors are junior faculty members. Any honorarium awarded on the basis of a co-authored piece must be shared.

Selection: Submissions will be competitively selected by a jury of distinguished scholars in the field of law and religion. 

Reach out to Stephanie Barclay at stephanie.barclay@nd.edu with any additional questions.

neilfoster

Academic conference on Theology and Jurisprudence- call for papers

I am happy to post this call for academic papers to be presented at a forthcoming conference in Adelaide (South Australia) on “Theology and Jurisprudence”. (For the moment this will be of interest only to those academics who would like to suggest a paper to be presented.)

Call for papers

Theology and Jurisprudence Symposium  

10 February 2023, Adelaide Law School (‘ALS’), South Australia

Proposal submission deadline: 1 November 2022

Continue reading

neilfoster

Freedom of speech for University student protected

A recent decision of the NSW Supreme Court has applied a rarely used provision in legislation setting up Australian universities to provide a legal remedy for a student penalised for her comments on a controversial issue. In Thiab v Western Sydney University [2022] NSWSC 760 (10 June 2022) Parker J ruled that the actions of Western Sydney University (“WSU”) in penalising the student, Ms Thiab, for comments she had made expressing disagreement with the State’s compulsory vaccination requirements, were unlawful. The case is an interesting example of protection of a student’s freedom of speech through application of the legislation establishing the University, and would apply not only to “political” comments as in this case, but also to religious beliefs.

Continue reading